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Scott Skiles, Gregg Popovich named NBA Coaches of Month for December

The Orlando Magic’s Scott Skiles and the San Antonio Spurs’ Gregg Popovich today were named the NBA Eastern and Western Conference Coaches of the Month, respectively, for games played in December.

Skiles led the Magic to the East’s best month at 10-5 (.667). Orlando went 5-3 at home and 5-2 on the road. On the defensive end, the Magic held opponents to 96.6 points in December, the fourth-stingiest mark in the NBA. On the offensive end, Orlando shot 48.1 percent as a team in December, third-best in the league and tops in the Eastern Conference.

Popovich guided the Spurs to the league’s best record in December at 14-2 (.875). San Antonio went 10-0 at home, and at the end of December owned a 19-0 mark at AT&T Center. The Spurs, who surrendered 100-plus points in only two of 16 December games, held opponents to a league-low 87.1 points – a mark more than six points better than that of the Cleveland Cavaliers, who ranked second at 93.2 points allowed.

Other nominees for Coach of the Month were Atlanta’s Mike Budenholzer, Cleveland’s David Blatt, Detroit’s Stan Van Gundy, Golden State’s Luke Walton, the Los Angeles Clippers’ Doc Rivers, Oklahoma City’s Billy Donovan and Toronto’s Dwane Casey.

Sixers sign Elton Brand, waive Christian Wood

The Philadelphia 76ers have agreed to terms with free agent forward Elton Brand, who will mostly serve as a mentor for Jahlil Okafor and other young Sixers.

In a related move, the Sixers waived forward Christian Wood.

Brand has played 16 seasons in the NBA, most recently two seasons with the Atlanta Hawks (2013-2015). He has appeared in 1,041 career NBA games and made 867 starts, posting averages of 16 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two blocks per game. His 34,685 career minutes played ranks him 70th all-time in NBA history. Brand was also the recipient of the 2005-06 Joe Dumars Trophy, presented each season to the player who exemplifies the ideals of sportsmanship on the court.

Brand will join the Sixers for the second time in his career. He spent four seasons in Philadelphia from 2008-2012, averaging 13 points and seven rebounds per game. Brand averaged 16 points and eight rebounds for the Sixers in the 2011 NBA Playoffs and averaged 11 points across 18 total playoff games during his tenure in Philadelphia.

A two-time NBA All-Star, Brand was the first overall pick in the 1999 NBA Draft by the Chicago Bulls and was named Rookie of the Year.

Marcus Morris and Paul George fined

Detroit Pistons forward Marcus Morris has been fined $15,000 for shoving Indiana Pacers forward Paul George, and George has been fined $10,000 for contributing to the altercation, it was announced today by Kiki VanDeWeghe, Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

The incident occurred at the conclusion of the Pacers’94-82 win over the Pistons on Jan. 2 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

O.J. Mayo fined by NBA

Milwaukee Bucks guard O.J. Mayo has been fined $25,000 for aggressively pursuing a game official and failing to leave the court in a timely manner upon his ejection, it was announced today by Kiki VanDeWeghe, Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

The incident occurred after Mayo was assessed his second technical foul of the game with 4:08 remaining in the first quarter of Milwaukee’s 95-85 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday, Jan. 2 at Target Center.

After monster effort against Suns, Kings face Thunder

Here’s the Sacramento Bee reporting on the Kings, who just unleashed a 142-point output against a struggling Phoenix Suns squad and on Monday will face a much higher-level opponent:

There’s no telling which Kings team will appear Monday in Oklahoma City.

It could be the energetic team that runs and enthusiastically moves the ball. Or it might be the team that looks disinterested.

The Kings, 4-11 on the road, begin a two-game trip against the Thunder, followed by a game Tuesday in Dallas.

“We’re capable of being an elite team, so it’s just a matter of what Kings team shows up,” guard Darren Collison said. “We want the best Kings team to show up every night right now.”

The Kings might have been at their best in beating the Phoenix Suns on Saturday. Their 142 points were the franchise’s most in 23 years, and they shot a season-high 60.9 percent. But the Suns have lost eight consecutive games.

Clippers re-assign Branden Dawson to D-League

The L.A. Clippers announced today they have assigned forward Branden Dawson to the Grand Rapids Drive of the NBA Development League pursuant to the Flexible Assignment System.

This is the third Development League assignment for Dawson and his second in Grand Rapids this season. Dawson played in seven games for the Drive from Dec. 4 – Dec. 24 and averaged 4.9 points and 4.0 rebounds in 16.1 minutes.

In 13 total games played for both Bakersfield and Grand Rapids this season, Dawson is averaging 5.5 points and 3.9 rebounds in 16.8 minutes.

With the Clippers, Dawson appeared in two games and is averaging 1.0 point and 1.5 rebounds.

Jarrett Jack suffers torn ACL knee injury

A tough season for the Brooklyn Nets just got tougher.

Nets guard Jarrett Jack has been diagnosed with a torn anterior cruciate ligament and small medial meniscus tear in his right knee. The injury occurred during the second half of the Nets’ game at Boston on Saturday, January 2. Jack will miss the remainder of the season and will undergo surgery on a date that has yet to be determined.

Jack has played and started in 32 games for Brooklyn this season, posting averages of 12.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and a team-high 7.4 assists per game.

The Nets are 10-23 this season – the third worst record in the league.

Kings score 142 points on Suns

Coach George Karl moved into a tie for fifth on the NBA wins list with 1,155 when DeMarcus Cousins had 32 points and nine rebounds Saturday to lead the Sacramento Kings to a 142-119 victory over the Phoenix Suns, who lost their eighth in a row.

Karl matched Phil Jackson with the milestone win. The 63-year-old Karl is 1,155-795 in 27 seasons…

Darren Collison had 21 points and six assists and Marco Belinelli had 19 points for the Kings. Rudy Gay added 16 points and Rajon Rondo had 15 points and 15 assists.

— Associated Press

Brook Lopez puts up big game against Celtics

Brook Lopez’s size was too much for Boston’s smaller lineup.

The 7-footer scored a season-high 30 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, leading the Brooklyn Nets to a 100-97 victory over the Celtics on Saturday.

“I did my best to make the right play every time, realizing that, and just tried to read the double teams,” said Lopez, who scored seven of his points in a key 9-2 run when Boston was making its charge with a smaller, trapping lineup…

Joe Johnson added 20 points, Thaddeus Young 16 with 10 boards, and Bojan Bogdanovic 13 points for the Nets, who won for just the third time in 11 games.

— Associated Press

Kyrie Irving playing time may soon increase

Since recently returning to action from last season’s injury, Kyrie Irving is averaging a modest 13.0 points and 3.0 assists on disappointing 34% shooting for the 21-9 Cavaliers. Here’s Cleveland.com reporting the latest:

Kyrie Irving may soon receive more playing time

It was nearly two weeks ago when point guard Kyrie Irving made his much-anticipated season debut against the Philadelphia 76ers. Since that Sunday contest, Irving has been on a minutes restriction, yet to top 26 minutes in four games.

“We’re getting close to being beyond that,” Cavs head coach David Blatt said Friday when discussing Irving’s workload. “He’s pretty healthy. I don’t see him going out there and playing 40 minutes anytime soon. We’ve moved along pretty well, we’ve been pretty specific and committed to a certain path in terms of bringing him back.”

Part of the Cavs’ plan involved Irving getting rest during a challenging West Coast road trip, a stretch where the team played four games in five nights.

He missed the Portland game, one night after an exhausting game against the Golden State Warriors and sat out the finale against Denver on Tuesday.